Overview
After the death of Emperor Marcus Aurelius, his devious son takes power and demotes Maximus, one of Rome's most capable generals who Marcus preferred. Eventually, Maximus is forced to become a gladiator and battle to the death against other men for the amusement of paying audiences.
imagine my surprise when, at the age of 20, I discovered that there was a director's version where the actions of the main characters and the course of Caesar's intrigues were revealed more widely. and, of course, I loved this movie even more.
although there is no complexity of the plot in it, the historicity is very controversial, a high-flown and almost naive result - but, God, how delicious and superbly served it is. one job on the sets and costumes is worth it, not to mention the great acting of all the actors. and yes, this film was the last for Oliver Reed, who played Proximo.
I'm waiting for the second part
k-ry closed Hollywood time. peplums 50x-60x.
The film is imho the icon of the husband. The cinema of generations X and Y (who think of the Roman Empire). It's funny, I'm about Max and Lucy's age.
By the way, "Max's wife" is Ridley Scott's future wife Giannina Facio. and the "son" of Giorgio Cantarini from Life is beautiful😢
I'm reviewing it before the sequel. Ridley Scott has been trying to repeat his success for 20 years. with a variable result. It's a rare case for a blockbuster to have high audience ratings, a bunch of awards and big fees (despite the fact that the rating is R).
a masterpiece. Music is one of the main elements of the masterpiece film. Hans Zimmer is a genius😁
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yOZEiHLuVU
Joaquin Phoenix is brilliantly nasty. "someone likes these villains-Magneto, Agent Smith... someone loves these villains - Darth Vader, Loki... But everyone hates this bastard - Dolores Umbridge, Joffrey Baratheon..." Commodus can well be attributed to the 3rd.🙂 By the
way, about Joffrey, Commodus loved his sister like Jaime and the Targaryens.
a power-hungry cowardly evil usurper (as they shouted in the crowd), a short pervert. He reminds me of someone
: "People love victories. But they don't see the battles. What do they care about the lands of Germany? The greatness of Rome is important to them. What is it? It's an image. It's a sacred dream. I will give people a great dream and they will love me."😮
"Rome is a crowd. He will amaze her and distract her attention. He would deprive her of her freedom, and she would rejoice. He will bring death to people, but that's why they will love him."😦
"Games are expensive every day. Who will pay? Future. The future will pay. He sells grain stocks. In two years, famine will come"😧
I love epic and pathos. Since his youth, he likes it when Maximus shouts "Praetorian!"
and where Dumbledore is surrounded. Praetorians inspect the battlefield🤩
but judging by the Pollice verso wiki it is doubtful🤨
they were popularized by the artist Jean-Leon Jerome and Ridley Scott.
, and I used to think that "My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius" is somewhere near the end of the movie. And there's still a whole hour after that.
And speaking of the director's stage. Some scenes are clearly visible that they were inserted later, it hurts the eye when we move from the theatrical stage to the director's stage. It's a little painful.
As it is, it's a great movie, the actors, the music, the visual - everything is super delicious.
And now I'm wondering why Gladiator 2 exists..
Maximus has a whole army, he's a hero, and the soldiers with him can go to hell. But at the same time, he is quietly taken to the forest for execution, where he escapes, and ... the wounded man runs away to his house in the middle of nowhere. In reality, he would have simply returned to his position, raised an army, arrested and charged the Commodore. That's it, the family would be safe, Rome would be saved.
And the execution scene itself, when a sword was raised behind his back, literally in one frame we are shown his head at the level of the executioner's groin, and in the next - he is already hitting him in the face with the back of his head. It immediately becomes clear that realistic fights should not be expected from the film.
Or, for example, the Sister of Commodus, the whole film is presented as strong and calculating, but for some reason, when she organizes the escape of Maximus, recognizing the risks, she does not even bother to hide with her son in Rome for a couple of days, and simply returns to her brother, who has already expressed his suspicions about her, and Konencho the same one to whom Paul tells everything for fear of violence against her son.
And there's the battle at the beginning of the movie... Oh, the gods. We are shown a full-fledged defensive position of the Roman army somewhere in the forest, with a whole battery of heavy throwing machines, and all in order to finish off the remnants of the Germans, who came out in a line and are waiting for them to be exterminated. At the same time, the Germans preferred ambushes, guerrilla actions, and surprise attacks from the forest, rather than standing as a wall in the open against the Roman legions.
And so, the guns were shot off, the Germans rushed into battle, and... the Roman soldiers abandoned the formation and a chaotic slaughter began. Yes, they were whipped for violating the order, because it exposed the entire formation. Discipline is the foundation of the Roman army and their success.